Tim Steenhoek

Top 50 in-plants know the importance of having the right bindery and mailing tools. By Eric Martin Printing fabulous-looking work quickly and cheaply is all well and good, but having the finished product merely sit in your in-plant won't make customers too happy. The in-plants that make up this year's IPG Top 50 understand the importance of having the right bindery and mailing tools to get the job done and in the hands of customers as soon as possible. That's one reason Tim Steenhoek, head of Document Management for ING, in Des Moines, Iowa, integrates mailing and labeling with the basic printing

This year's sales leaders shine despite budget cuts, a tough economy and the migration from print to e-formats. By Mike Llewellyn 2003 WILL likely go down in history as a little kinder than 2002's nasty economic climate. But hiring is still slow and budgets are still tight. Nonetheless, there are once again a number of Top 50 in-plants that managed to find ways to increase their sales—24 of them, in fact. Many opted to offer new services. Others took on extra responsibilities within their organizations. Some turned to outside business, while others did a little extra self-promotion. Whatever strategies they've used, these in-plants have

Early last month, In-Plant Graphics hosted its first educational conference and exposition, in conjunction with our company's successful BookTech conference, now in its seventh year. I traveled to New York for the event and moderated several panel discussions. I enjoyed the opportunity to sit and talk with so many in-plant managers, both from the New York area and from out of state. Two in-plant representatives even flew in from the University of California-Davis. One of them, Alan Bump, told me his in-plant has added several Heidelberg 9110s and some bindery gear in the past year. On the first day of the conference, I had

Combining departments will not only boost your services, but it will save money in the long run. Marrying in-house mail and print departments requires all the foresight, planning and tact of a royal wedding—and the payoffs are just as spectacular. A more coordinated, efficient operation able to offer customers more services at a lower cost—that's the dream come true for managers of integrated in-plants. "The results [of our merger] were far greater than we ever imagined. There's a synergy from everything being together now in one wide-open space," reveals Tim Steenhoek, who manages mail and print at Equitable of Iowa in Des Moines. Operations

Discover the benefits of offering printing and mailing all under one roof. Read what these managers say about running a successful mailing operation. We've all heard the familiar (though unofficial) United States Postal Service (USPS) slogan: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." This creed also seems to be the testament of many in-plant managers who offer mail services, in addition to printing, to their parent companies and organizations. In recent years, however, there's been a change in the way mail is handled and distributed. Today, having a

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